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Monday, December 21, 2009

A Poopstacle Course!

Yesterday, Geof and I went out for a late morning run along the lakefront, and were greeted by a most curious sight...poop, everywhere! The snow and ice melted from last weeks barage of random weather, and revealed a veritable poop graveyard. I should mention it was all goose poop :) It didn't stop at the lakefront, it was populating much of the path that wound around Northerly Island, too. Good grief!

I'm glad I opted to squeeze in one more run in my current Brooks Glycerin's before retiring them for the new pair :) It was caked in there like it was built into the cushioning! Suffice it to say, the run was glorious! The weather was cool, hovering around 30 degrees and a little breezy. We wound around the path, heading south, ran a loop around Northerly Island, and then headed back towards home to do 8 reps of our favorite set o' stairs. My ankles and heels held up just fine, and they didn't say a word during the stair session.

Speaking of, I saw my rockin' doc last Wednesday and he confirmed my assumptions: tendonitis. It's peroneal tendonitis on my left leg, and posterior tibial tendonitis on my right leg. Maybe a touch of the posterior tib on my right as well, but nothing like it is on the right. So, that said, I begin PT (!!!) tomorrow evening with a new PT, Brendan, at Athletico. Geof is seeing the same guy right now for his ankle ailment and loves the results he's gotten. Dr. N gave him his seal of approval so I'm looking forward to getting this resolved. Meantime, I've been doing my glute/hip exercise he showed me so I can start strengthening those suckers. I also bought 1lb. ankle weights to wear when I do the exercise (basically, lay on your side against a wall...butt, heel and shoulders need to be touching the wall...and you raise your top leg up, squeezing your glute and hip muscles, then bringing it back down and repeating it x20 on each side. Great little workout!). Knock on wood, this little pain in my arse gets resolved quickly and I get to the root of its evil so that it doesn't come back again!

Backtracking a bit, Saturday, Geof and I drove out to Deer Grove Forest Preserve and met up with some CHUGs for a birthday run for Deanna. She wanted to do 34k for her 34th birthday, but when we arrived in Palatine, we were greeted by over a foot of fluffy powder, and once we got started, most of us decided one loop was going to be more than enough! Besides, time on your feet is more important sometimes than mileage itself is :) Since there was so much snow, apparently unexpected, all the entrances to the preserve were closed. Seriously?! So we all met in a parking lot across from an entrance and devised a plan. We were still going to run, goshdarnit! We ended up driving back down Dundee Rd., towards Deer Grove East, parked in the far end of a strip mall parking lot, and then ran across the street to the service entrance and then from there we just improvised! We had no idea where we were in the preserve, but we turned right on a hunch. Where the snow plowing ended, it was hard to tell if we could go further, but I hopped over the pile of snow and blazed a trail, turning around after a bit to see the rainbow of winter running jackets that was our group, watching to see what I found before following me. It looked cool, their bright jackets against the stark white snow. Much to our delight, it led us directly to the brown loop, which we followed, and were able to hook up with the yellow, 5.4 mile, loop eventually. Perfecto! I couldn't believe how well it worked out, as far as navigating went.

The snow was just deep enough, and just uneven enough that the footing was pretty awful. For healthy ankles, no problem, but for my poor ankles I was experiencing a new level of discomfort. After a few usually unremarkable ankle rolls, I was thinking of bailing. Now my ankles were burning whenever the ground was less than perfectly even. Oh for the love, I get it! It really wasn't the best idea I've ever had, but I made it out alive. After almost 2 hours of running we managed to do barely 8 miles...proof positive that snow running ain't no joke!

After a to-die-for brunch at Egg Harbor Cafe in Barrington with Brian and Kelly, we drove home and I immediately started the epsom salt soak, followed by a hot shower, followed by elevating the ol' legs and icing them. Something worked, because there wasn't so much as a twinge during our run on Sunday. So, I repeated the same prescription after Sunday's run as well.

I'm excited to start PT tomorrow :)

Meantime, I'm learning the ways of the iPhone...delighting in all the cool stuff it can do, and comparing my apps with Geof's apps :) With the new year, I plan on tracking all my mileage/workouts in an electronic something-or-other, and my new gadget will come in handy with that!

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Quotes and Musings

"What we get from this adventure is just sheer joy. And joy is, after all, the end of life. We do not live to eat and make money. We eat and make money to be able to enjoy life. That is what life means and what life is for." ~ George Mallory, 1922

"There is a reason in every race to finish it or to quit early; it's a matter of what you choose. I believe the choice you take out there is the choice you're going to take in every aspect of life." ~ Perry Edinger

"Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself." ~ Lululemon

"If you start to feel good during an ultra, don't worry, you'll get over it." ~Thibeault

"The core of a man's spirit comes from new experiences." ~Chris McCandless

"Circumstance has no value. It is how one relates to a situation that has value. All true meaning resides in the personal relationship to a phenomenon, what it means to you." ~Chris McCandless

Must Reads

"Life of Pi" Yann Martel

"No Shortcuts to the Top" Ed Viesturs

"Omnivore's Dilemma" Michael Pollan

"The Alchemist" Paulo Coehlo

"Crossing to Safety" Wallace Stegner

"Merle's Door" Ted Kerasote

"The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" Dan Millman

"Running Through The Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon" Neal Jamison

"Buddha" Deepak Chopra

"Into The Wild" John Krakauer

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Buckle Envy

Ever wonder what all the hundo buckles look like? Click on my buckle to find out!